Railway-gate.



'PATENTED MAY 26, 1908..

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RAILWAY GATE APPLICATION FILED JAN.4. 1908.

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No. 888,568. PATENTED MAY '26, 1908.

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RAILWAY GATE.

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PATENTED MAY 26, 1908-.

WYPER. RAILWAY GATE. APPLICATION IILIID JAN. 4, 1908.

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ANDREW WYPER, OF BELLE ELLEN, ALABAMA.

RAILWAY-GATE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 26, 1908.

Application filed January 4, 1908. Serial No. 409,339.

To all, whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW WYPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belle Ellen, in the county of Bibb and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Gates, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawlngs.

My invention relates to improvements in ftptomatic railway gates, mine doors and the The object of the invention is to provide an operating mechanism for gates or doors which will be simple and practical in construction, strong and durable in use and adapted to be automatically operated by cars or trains passing through the same.

with the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved railway gate and its operating mechanism, the gate being in its closed position; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the gate open; Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the plane indicated by the line 3*3 in Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on the plane indicated by the line 4-4 in Fig. 1; and Figs. 5 and 6 are detail sectional views taken on the planes indicated by the lines 55 and 6-6, respectively in Fig. 1.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings is especially designed for use at a railway crossing and it consists of two pairs of horizontally swinging gates 1 adapted to be simultaneously operated by cars or trains passing over the track rails 2. One pair of gates is arranged upon each side ,of the crossing or 'road which intersects the track and the gates of each pair are arranged upon opposite sides of the track and swing toward and from each other in a horizontal plane later-ally or transversely of the track. The gates may be of any suitable form and construction and have their inner ends mounted for swinging movement upon vertical posts or uprights 3 arranged upon suitable supports 4. At the inner end of each of the gates is provided an operating arm 5 formed, preferably, by extending the lowermost longitudinal bar of the gate beyond the pivot post 3 as shown in the drawings. The

two gates upon the same side of the track 2 have their arms 5 connected by links 6 to the ends of a lever 7 which is fixed at its center upon a vertical pivot 9 arranged in a suitable support 10 preferably in the form of a cross bar arranged between the extended ends of two of the track ties. Upon the lower end of the pivot is fixed, at an angle to the lever 7, a crank arm 11 to which is connected one end of a link or rod 12. The links 12 upon each side of the track extend inwardly and are pivotally connected to the ends of a lever 13 fixed at its center upon the lower end of a vertical pivot 14 arranged in a support 15 similar to the support 10. Fixed to the upper end of the pivot 14 is a lever 16 which extends in a plane at right angles to that of the lever 13 and which has connectedto its ends longitudinally extending operating links or rods 17. From the above it will be seen that when the latter are operated the four gates will be simultaneously operated, the inward movement of the rods or links 17 causing the gates of each pair to swing away from each other to open the track, and the two gates on each side of the track to swing together to close the roadway or crossing.

In order to permit the gates to be operated by passing cars or trains I provide, at

suitable points upon the track on each side of' the gate, trip devices which are operatively connected to the rods or links 17 and which are adapted to be actuated by the wheels of the car or other devices carried by it. As

shown in the drawings each of the trip devices comprises a transverse rock shaft 18 mounted in a suitable bearing or support 19 and having at its ends crank arms 20, 21. The inner arm 20 is connected to one of the links or rods 17 and the outer arm 21 is preferably arranged for swinging movement in a longitudinal slot 22 formed in one of the track rails 2 and is connected to a longitudinally extending trip bar 23 adapted to swing down into the slot 22 and carried by the arm 21 and a pivot link 24 disposed parallel with the arm 21. It will be seen that the parts 21, 24 and 23 resemble a parallel rule so that the trip bar will be maintained in a horizontal position atall times and projects normally above the surface of the tread of the rail 2 so that a wheel passing over the latter will depress it into the slot 22 and thereby actuate the gates.

The gates are self-actuated to their closed position across the track, preferably, by

means of coil springs 25 connected at one end to the crank arms 20 and at their opposite ends to one of the cross ties or any other suitable support; but it will be understood that the gates may be closed by springs arrangech in any other suitable manner or by any equivalent means. If desiredfI may also employ stops 26 to limit the closing movement of the gates under the action of the springs 25, so as to maintain them in longitu dinal alinement transversely of the track.

In order to lock the gates in their open position so that when they are opened by an on-coming car they will be maintained in such open position until the car passes through them, I provide a locking device consisting preferably of a latch 27 adapted to co-act with one of the gates and in the form of a transverse lever pivoted intermediate its ends at 28. The outer end 29 of the latch lever is squared to engage one of the gates 5 and hold it open and said end has its upper face beveled as at 30 to cause said gate to depress it when the gate is being opened. The inner end 31 of the latch is pressed by a spring 32 so that its outer end 29 is normally elevated and in the path of the lower bar of the co-acting gate. Said inner end 31 of the latch is adapted to be elevated against the tension of said spring to retract the latch by trip levers or similar devices arranged upon the track at suitable distances from the gate. These trip devices 33 are preferably in the form of levers pivoted intermediate their ends at 34 in suitable supports and having their upper ends projecting into and adapted to swing in longitudinal slots 35 formed in the track rails 2. The lower ends 36 of the trip levers 33 are weighted so that the latter will be held normally in vertical positions with their upper ends projecting above the tread or surface of the track rails. The trip lever 33 upon one side of the gate is connected to one end of a cable 37 which has its other end passed over a guide pulley 38 and connected to' the end 31 of the latch lever 27. The trip lever upon the other side of the gate is connected to one end of a cable 39 which has its other end passed once around a guide pulley 40 and then attached to said innerend of the latch lever. The cable 39 is passed around the pulley in a direction opposite to that of the cable 37 over its pulley 38 so that when the trip levers 33 are actuated by a car after it passes through the gates, the latch lever will be operated to release or unlock said gates.

In operation, assuming the gate to be closed or in its position shown in Fig. 1, when the train or car approaches the gate from either side it will depress the adjacent trip bar 23 so that through the instrumentality of the connections between the latter and the four gates the gates will be simultaneously the engagement of the latch lever 27 with one of the gates will hold them in such position. After the car passes through-the gates it will actuate the trip lever 33 which will depress the outer end of the latch to free the gate which it engages, whereupon the springs 25 will return the gates to their position shown in Fig. 1.

Vhile the embodiment of the invention above described is especially designed for use as a railway gate it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in a trap door for a mine and used in other ways. It will be noted that the device is simple and comparatively light in construction so that in case of breakage of any of the parts the gates can be pushed open by a passing car or train without danger of a wreck. At the and the springs 25 may be of such strength as will prevent animals from pushing the gates open.

and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

*Iaving thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a railway gate, the combination of'a pair of vertically disposed gates arranged 011 opposite sides of a track for horizontal swinging movement toward and from each other, each of said gates having upper and lower horizontal bars united by upright bars, the lower horizontal bar of each gate being extended b .yond the pivot of the gate to provide an operating arm, a trip device adapted to be actuated by a passing car and link and lever connections between said trip device and the arms of said gates for simultaneously operating the latter.

2. In a railway gate, the combination with a track having rails formed with vertically disposed and longitudinally extending slots, of a pair of vertically disposed gates arranged on opposite sides of the trackfor horizontal other, trip devices comprising horizontally disposed and transversely extending shafts, each provided with two crank arms, one arm of each device being adapted to swing in one of the slots in the track rails, and to be actuated by the wheels of passing cars, coil springs fixed at one end and having their other ends connected to the other crank arms on said shafts, operating arms for said gates and link and lever connections between the last mentioned crank arms and the operating arms upon the gates.

3. In a railway gate, the combination of a pair of vertically disposed gates arranged on opposite sides of a track for vertical swinging movement toward and from each other, op-

swung to their position shown in Fig. 2 and erating arms projecting from the inner ends same time the device is strong and durable Various changes in the form, proportion swinging movement toward and from each n crank arm, coil springs fixed at one end and having their other ends connected to the last mentioned crank arms, link and lever connections between the last mentioned crank arms and the operating arms upon the gates,

a latch or lock to engage one of said gates to hold the latter open and means adapted to be actuated by a passing car to release the latch or lock.

4. In a railway gate, the combination of a pair of vertically disposed gates arranged on opposite sides of a track for horizontal swinglng movement toward and from each other, means actuated by a passing car for openmg the gates, a spring for closing the gates, the

latch lever 27 pivoted intermediate its ends and having one end beveled or inclined and adapted to engage one of the gates to hold the latter open, a spring for actuating the latch lever and means arranged along the track and adapted to be actuated by a passing car to operate the latch lever against the tension of its actuating spring.

5. In a railway gate, the combination of a pair of vertically disposed gates arranged on opposite sides of a track for horizontal swinging movement toward and from each other, means actuated by a passing car for opening the gates, a spring for closing the gates, the latch lever 27 pivoted intermediate its ends and having one end beveled or inclined and adapted to engage one of the gates to hold the latter open, a spring for actuating the latch lever, trip levers adapted to be actuated by a passing car, guides, and cables attached to the trip levers, passed over said guides and connected to the other end of said latch lever.

6. In a railway gate, the combination of two pairs of vertically disposed horizontally swinging gates, the gates of each pair being on opposite sides of the track to swing away from each other and the gates on the same side of the track being adapted to swing inwardly toward each other, a vertical pivot on each side of the track between the gates, a

lever secured intermediate its ends on each of said pivots, operating arms projecting from each of the gates, links connecting the operating arms and the ends of said levers, arms projecting from said pivots at angles to said levers, a vertical pivot arranged between the track rails, two angularly dis osed levers fixed intermediate their ends to t e last mentioned vertical pivot, links connecting the ends of one of the last mentioned levers to the arms of the vertical pivots on each side of the track, trip levers and links connecting the trip levers to the ends of the other lever arranged between the track rails.

7. In a railway gate, the combination of two pairs of vertically disposed horizontallly swinging gates, the gates of each pair being on opposite sides of the track to swing away from each other and the gates on the same side of the track being adapted to swing inwardly toward each other, a vertical pivot on each side of the track between the gates, a lever secured intermediate its ends on each of said pivots, operating arms projecting from each of the gates, links connecting the operating arms and the ends of said levers, arms projecting from, said pivots at right angles to said levers, avertical pivot arranged between the track rails, two angularly disposed levers fixed intermediate their ends to the last mentioned vertical pivot, links connecting the ends of one of the last mentioned levers to the arms of the vertical pivots on each side of the track, trip devices, each having a horizontal shaft with two crank arms, one being adapted to be actuated by a passing car, links connecting the other crank arms to the ends of the other lever arranged between the track rails, springs for actuating the gates to their closed position, a latch device for retaining the gates in their open position and means actuated by a passing car for controlling the latch device.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW WYPER.

Witnesses:

JOHN McCRAoKEN, ANDREW DoDDs. 

